Encourage those around you — today

Have you ever had a day in which you just thought, “I need to go back to bed and start over?” You know those days when you turn the alarm off instead of hitting snooze. Those days when you can’t find your keys and someone in your family points out they are in your hand. Those days when you get to the office and are met with everyone’s problems. If so, then you will appreciate the quote I saw recently from David Jeremiah. It read, “Encouragers see potential, while others only see problems.”

It is amazing what happens when we look for the good and not only the bad. This is often hard to do, but critical if you want others to look forward to being around you. If you are anything like me, some days this is easier than others. If you spend any time watching or listening to the news, it is often difficult to recognize the good.

Several popular national radio personalities have built a multi-million dollar business by catching people saying things they wish they had never said. Can you imagine what it must be like to wake up every day with the goal of finding all the things wrong in the world? As you know, this is much easier than one might think, but is it helpful? I don’t think we should put our heads in the sand and act as if everything around us is perfect, but it takes more than simply pointing out problems.

Back to David Jeremiah’s quote, “Encouragers see potential…” Notice in its very nature, there is an assumed area in which people can improve. He didn’t say, “Encouragers see perfection.” When we talk about potential, we talk about having a fundamental belief that even where problems exist, they can improve.

I often talk about how difficult it is to be hateful to someone who smiles at you. People are drawn to those who have an encouraging spirit and repelled by those who only see problems. Is our city perfect? Of course not. Is your boss perfect? Of course not. Are your employees perfect? Of course not.

So what are we to do? Should we simply give up? Should we just assume they cannot improve? Should we put the game pieces back in the box and close the top?

It is such a weird approach, but people want you to be weird. They want to be encouraged. I want to be encouraged and people want me to encourage them. Do our children want us to point out all of the areas in which they fail, without recognizing the areas in which they succeed? That would be akin to child abuse, yet we seem to forget this when we are dealing with each other.

I am going to make a commitment to find those doing things right and encourage them. Will you join me? Will you look for an opportunity to encourage potential and refrain from only sharing problems? Be an encourager.

David Bratcher is the founder of www.davebratcher.com, speaker, teacher and trainer in the area of leadership and organizational development. He serves as vice president of Financial Services for the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation and can be contacted at dave@davebratcher.com.